Lorain to repave 2 city streets

LORAIN -- Two bumpy streets in Lorain will be smoothed out through a resurfacing program paid for in part with money from the Ohio Public Works Commission.

The city plans to resurface West 5th Street and rebuild West 6th Street, a project estimated to cost more than $2.13 million. The OPWC District 9 Integrating Committee has approved $1.05 million to help pay for the project, according to the Lorain County Engineer's Office.

The project will replace those streets from Oberlin Avenue to Broadway. Wickens Place, the street across from Lorain City Hall and next to Veterans Memorial Park, also will be resurfaced.

"West 5th and 6th are definitely in dire need of repair," said City Engineer Dale Vandersommen. "That whole area has been on our hot list for a while."

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West 6th, west of Broadway, is one of Lorain's busiest streets, leading to homes and churches, along with the Lorain Public Library, 351 W. Sixth St., and Admiral Ernest J. King Elementary, 720 Washington Ave.

Lorain Public Library System Director Joanne Eldridge said the library staff are grateful because the city realizes how important the downtown area is and making improvements to keep it vibrant and well used.

West 6th and West 5th streets also rank low on Lorain's road condition rating system, Vandersommen said. West 6th, 105 years old, is rated 64 and West 5th, 104 years old, is rated 61; if they were school grades, "those would be D's," he said.

West 5th Street will get a new asphalt surface, while West 6th Street will be rebuilt with concrete, according to plans.

The city will pay for its share of the project with a loan from the state infrastructure bank. Those loans typically last seven to 10 years with 3 percent interest and are repaid with general fund money, City Auditor Ron Mantini said.

The projects will get another review and likely approval next year, with construction scheduled in 2014.

"We actually have a lot of orange barrels on the way," Vandersommen said.

The OPWC funds also will pay for resurfacing Washington and Reid avenues next year.

Next year, phase two of the Oberlin Avenue resurfacing will be done from West Erie Avenue to Meister Road.

Jaeger Road also will be widened and ODOT will hire contractors to resurface the entire length of SR 611 in Lorain. Part of SR 611 is West 21st Street in Lorain and it will be one of the state agency's largest urban paving projects, Vandersommen said.

The Lorain West 5th and 6th street projects are one of 22 projects costing a total of $16.1 million; the OPWC District 9 Integrating Committee approved a total of more than $5.9 million to help pay for the project costs.